Mom wrestles daughter away from would-be kidnapper inside store

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HERNANDO, Fla. -- A Florida mother chased after and nearly took down a man who grabbed and dragged off her 13-year-old daughter inside a Dollar General store. The woman grabbed hold of her daughter before the man could take her out of the store Tuesday morning.

Surveillance video showed the man as he tried to run towards the exit with the girl in his arms, but the teen's mother caught up and a "tug of war" ensued.

Craig Bonello

"She may have saved her daughter's life," Citrus County Sheriff spokesman Sgt. Craig Callahan said. "I don't exactly know the motive but I'm sure it was not a good one."

The suspect, 30-year-old Craig Bonello, eventually let the girl go.

When he escaped the store, he ran right into an off-duty sheriff's deputy who happened to be pulling into the parking lot.

"He was off duty, had pulled into the parking lot just by chance," Callahan said. "In my 10 years I have never seen an instance like this in broad daylight in a public area/would grab a girl like this."